


Nagging Doubts

by mosaicofdreamsanddragons



Series: Missing Moments In-Between [4]
Category: LEGO Monkie Kid
Genre: Set right after episode 3 and in episode 4 and sets up briefly episode 5, We'll see where canon goes, could be an au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-29
Updated: 2020-10-29
Packaged: 2021-03-09 00:35:33
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,147
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27255805
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mosaicofdreamsanddragons/pseuds/mosaicofdreamsanddragons
Summary: Nothing like having your two kids get involved in superhero nonsense to get a Pig to worry. Or, Pigsy wrestles with being unable to protect his kids and it drags up some old long buried insecurities.(The dreams aren't helping)
Relationships: Pigsy & Sandy (LEGO Monkie Kid), Pigsy & Tang (LEGO Monkie Kid)
Series: Missing Moments In-Between [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1967488
Comments: 6
Kudos: 42





	Nagging Doubts

Pigsy did not sign up for this monkey nonsense. He had half a mind to march over to Flower Fruit Mountain and tell that Monkey King to clean up his own mess leaving him and his delivery boy out of it. 

Two things stopped him. One, he couldn’t seem to get away from the shop what with the frequent attacks on his person and employees setting them so far beyond schedule. And the second reason defiantly wasn’t how excited the kid and Tang were to be living the legacy of Sun Wukong. Or how good having an outlet for all this pent up energy was for both of the kids. Or how nice it was to see Sandy on the regular even if he wasn’t really up for fighting as much as he had been. 

Oh who was he kidding. He’d probably do anything to see them all so happy.

That didn’t mean he didn’t have second thoughts. 

Lying tied up at the hands of Red Son, hearing the kid sputter out that he wasn’t invincible anymore. 

Being saved from being crushed to death by the massive clone of his employee while contemplating all the negative reviews and refunds he was going to have to make. Only to find out there were more of these threats and they were with his kid and friend. 

Hearing from Sandy that his kids had been attacked in Mei’s house of all places.

Upon hearing the last one he’d actually gone ahead and asked Sandy if he could take him to Flower Fruit. Sandy had blinked at him and asked, “Why? You could just send a message with the kid when he goes up there to train.”

Pigsy opened his mouth to explain that this wasn’t a conversation he was ready to have with the kid present but a rush of unpleasant memories stopped him, dragging him back to the last time he’d seen the kid on Flower Fruit mountain. He blamed word association. 

“He almost died,” he said quietly into his teacup.

“But he didn’t,” said Sandy in a somber tone leaning forward. “He made it to Sun Wukong, gaining the ability to solve the problem on his own.” He sat back and waved his giant blue arms “And look at us all now!”

Pigsy raised his eyes to meet Sandy’s, “You got attacked in one of the most secure places in the world.”

“Yes,” Sandy acknowledged with a nod of his head, “but we came together and fought the guy off. Mei gained a new weapon of her own. We’re growing into a solid team. When danger come, we’ll have each other’s backs.” He smiled down at Pigsy. “Now how about you and me have some more tea and you can tell me all about noodles.” 

While far from a subtle change in topic it was, alas, effective. Sandy knew him a bit too well. And he spent the rest of the evening happily thinking of noodles.

_He was walking up a mountain. A mountain he’d barely seen through smoke and fire. But as he is guided by chittering monkeys towards a massive waterfall he somehow knows this is Flower Fruit Mountain._

_He steps into stone room full of pillars and there, at the end, was stone throne. Upon laying eyes on its occupant, orange fur, fiery eyes, and a golden headband, he knows without a shadow of a doubt this is Sun Wukong._

_“Why are you here --------?” says the king. His last word comes out garbled, like static corrupting a signal._

_One of the King’s eyebrows lifts at his silence and he realizes he must speak. Why was he hear? He’d wanted to speak to this man. Something to do with danger._

_“We are in danger,” he said. The king’s tail quirked up and his eyes narrowed. “The others are in trouble. Sandy was…captured,” he hadn’t known it before speaking but the words rung true. They’d been fighting something together and then…then everything was fuzzy but somehow he’d escaped only to find, “Mei has been injured. Damage to her leg. And what’s worse she told me Tang was capture too.” Panic that hadn’t been there before swelled up but he shoved it down. He needed to stay calm._

_“And what do you want me to do about this?” said the King, now surveying his nails nonchalantly as his tail whipped back and forth._

_“You?” he said and a bit of his frustration bubbling up. “I’m here for the kid.”_

_“What kid?” there was no malice in the voice, just idle curiosity._

_“My kid,” he said. “You decided to train him, even if he’s barely more than a boy.” Wukong was now openly staring at him. “Oh don’t give me that. You decided to take him on after he picked up your staff? And we got him all the way over here? Through all the fire and…”_

_He was in the flaming mountains watching Princess Iron Fan had tossed his boy into the fire. Humans can’t survive in lava. He’d grabbed a distressed Mei before he lost another kid and carried her back to the boat. When they’d got to the water it had been so cold inside and out. His boy was gone. His boy was gone. And he couldn’t save him. He couldn’t do anything. Like he couldn’t do anything back then._

_“W-----!” Someone was shaking him. “B----!” Someone with furry hands. Wait. He looked up and stared into the wide golden eyes of the Sun Wukong. They were back on Flower Fruit but the room was now old and crumbled. Where the throne had been was now a painted mural he couldn’t see because Wukong blocked most of his vision, majestic phoenix tails blowing in the wind which would have made him intimidating were it not for the worry in his eyes. “Wake up,” he said, “You’re dreaming.”_

He woke up. 

The next morning nothing was going right. And he wasn’t just saying that because he’d gotten so little sleep. For starters the kid was late due to Monkey nonsense. In a fit of anger he told him he’d fire him if he was ever so much as one minute late again. Mei took one look at how he was acting and grabbed Sandy to hang out at the secret base. He didn’t really care, he had more important things to deal with. Like all these customers. Or the boxes of vegetables which had the nerve to be empty today.

While yelling his frustrations to an empty pantry he felt a hand tap him on the shoulder. He turned to see the freeloader. “What do you want?” he growled.

“You could keep yelling at the pantry,” said Tang. “Or you could come with me shopping.” Pigsy opened his mouth to retort but Tang beat him to it. “I’ll pay.”

He opened his mouth. And shut it. Tang watched him with a raised eyebrow and quirked smile. Then he turned and walked back out. Pigsy followed him dumbly. 

About four carrots in his shock wore off in favor of ensuring that this once in a lifetime opportunity to use Tang’s money got him the best produce he could find. About twenty in his confidence was back in full swing. There’s nothing like doing something he was good at to bring up his mood. Even if Tang failed to see the difference between the individual vegetables. 

And then he saw her. 

She was beautiful. And she was interested. And…and being wanted felt good. It made him feel young again and capable. Like he could still do this one thing. It was tantalizing. He needed this. This promise of a future break, with all the stress of his day, was too good to pass up. 

So of course it was a trap. When was it ever not a trap? When in the history of his life had romance ever _ever_ gone right for him? 

The only thing worse than getting tied up to a salty Tang, losing his ability to speak, and having to rely on Tang’s smooth talking to keep them from being eaten was being used to lure in his arachnophobia kid into a trap and then watching it get sprung on him, his other kid, and his oldest friend. 

By all rights it should have terrified him, but a well-placed sword and a little teamwork managed to get him and the others free to pull a little rescue mission of their own. It worked. And it was exhilarating. 

Maybe Sandy was right. They could do more together then apart.

In the spirit of apologies and team-bonding, he actually recommended Tang tell the story about the Spider Queen and how the Monkey King had defeated her. Tang had laughed and said he didn’t know that story but he did know about seven spider sisters and a centipede. MK did not enjoy the story much despite it being about his idol.

_They trap a seven spider sisters in a river. He takes the opportunity to mock them believing them subdued. Then at their next stop they find themselves poisoned by the spiders’ ally for revenge against him…not the revenge against them all, no, revenge against him._

_The poison raging through his body hurts, so much so he’s on the ground. But what hurts more is that everyone he cares for is beside him in the same agony. Save one. Off saving the day as usual while he lies here helpless, unable to fix his own mess._

_“Again?” he heard from the behind him. “Ba---, wake up!”_

He woke up to the screeching of a bird. The window was open and the moonlight streamed through the curtains. Had he left that open?

He got up to close it and caught sight of the full moon. He’d always had a fondness for moonlit nights. He moved out onto this balcony, a moment in the fresh night air would do him some good. 

He let the cool night air wash over him and sooth away the lingering feelings the dream had surfaced. The overwhelming feeling of helplessness and uselessness. Unable to protect those he loved, unable to make up for his own mistakes, unable to do anything. But that had been a dream, based on Tang’s story. Right? Why just yesterday he’d come up with a solution, escaped with Tang, and faced the spider queen head on, turning the tide. And they’d been able to save his kid. That feeling of inadequacy it was just part of a dream it was just part of a dream it was just part of a dream.

“Pigsy?” came his roommate’s voice. “What’s the matter?”

“Nothing, just a bird waking me up,” he said not looking over at Tang as he approached. But he could hear him approach and lean on the balcony beside him. 

They stood in silence for a moment. Then Pigsy sighed. “I had a nightmare. Just some nonsense about living your story, but not as the Monkey king.”

Tang did not respond. Which was unusual for him. He seemed to be waiting for something. 

Pigsy let out a deep sigh. “It just reminded me how helpless I am to protect everyone I care about. And I know, I know that we are becoming a strong team and support each other and the kids are getting older or would find trouble anyways…it’s just… I worry about them. I worry about all of you. And I feel like I should be the one doing the rescuing, I’m practically a father to both of those young ones. But I can’t. So what am I?”

Tang was silent for a moment. Finally he leaned back from the balcony and said, “I worry about them too. I worry about all of you. Especially the kids. And I don’t know how to fix it.” He turned to face Pigsy. “But I do know who you are.”

“Oh?” goes Pigsy, turning his head as much as he could while still leaning over the balconies edge. This ought to be good.

“You’re the owner of Pigsy’s noodles, father figure to those two kids, and part time superhero,” said Tang with a grin. “And you’re my best friend.”

“oh,” he said and let his eyes drop down to an orange bird perched on a balcony below them. He didn’t know what to say to that. He closed his eyes and gruffly replied, “Don’t expect free noodles just because you’re my best friend too.”

Tang’s laugh startled the orange bird and it flew off into the night, red and green feathers illuminated by moonlight. Pigsy felt himself smile. Everything was going to be fine. 

As he turned to head back into his house, he was unaware of the gold and silver demon hiding beneath the balcony frantically scribbling ‘best friends’ down on a piece of paper.

**Author's Note:**

> Fun fact: The Pig's name in _Journey to the West_ is Zhu Bajie or Zhu Wuneng (and if someone can help me figure out why he has two options for a given name and when to use which that would be helpful). Google also tells me "Zhu" means "Pig" which is why it got translated to "Pigsy" in some translations.


End file.
